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Show The Salt Lake Tribune UTAH Who KnowsIf a Coin’s Real? The Authenticator BY STEVEN OBERBECK THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Amidthe din of hundreds ofcoin collectors and dealers at the Salt Palace on Saturday, Brian Silliman quietly sat, peering into a microscope as he rolled a silver dime underthe lens. In his three years as the American Numismatic Association’s top authenti- cator, Silliman has studied tens of thousands of coins under his microscope, looking for signs that a coin has been altered to increase its value. “Counterfeits make upa tiny portion ofall the coins wesee,less than onepercent,”Silliman said. “But for individual collectors and dealers who mistakenly buy acoin that’s beenaltered, it’s a costly proposition.” Easing himself away from the microscope, Silliman handed the 1916 dime minted in Denver back to Robert Gibbons of Logan. “Where did you get it?” he asked. “Foundit with a metal detector. last Septemberin somebody’s yard,” Gibbons said. “It looked like it had been in the ground a longtime.” Silliman gave Gibbons the good news. “Well, it’s a beautiful coin. Easily worth over$3,000,” he said. Gibbons’ coin was the third 1916-D dime that Silliman studied during the ANA’sNational Money Showthat ended its three-day run in Salt Lake City on Saturday evening. The other two dimes, though, were counterfeits. They were real 1916 dimes — worth a couple of dollars — but someone added a crude D mint mark to them in orderto drasticallyinflate their value. Adding or removing mint marks from coins is a common ploy among counterfeiters. There are several ways thatis accomplished. A bogus mint mark can be removed from a less valuable coin and glued or soldered to another. Another technique involves the counterfeiter drilling a tiny hole into the side of a coin and pushing up a mint mark from the inside. “Some of the counterfeits we see are quite good,” Silliman said. “But if you know what you're looking for; you can alwaystell they are notreal.” The next visitor to Silliman’s table found out just how costly counterfeit mint markscan be. The coin was an 1879 Morgan silver B3 Sunday, March11,2001 Kids at Film Festival Decry Movie Violence. dollar. The mint mark indicated it was BY LORI BUTTARS produced in Carson City, Nev. To Silliman’s trainedeye the marklooked flat.It lacked the crisp detail of an original mint ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE mark. “You might wantto get a second opin- ion,”Silliman said to Kevin Pearson, who boughtthe coin two years ago for $1,800 from a dealer in Maryland. “Butit looks to me like this coin has problems.” The ANA’s Authentication Bureau, based in Colorado Springs, maintains a photographic data base of more than 2 million images to help certify coins. And for the really tough authentications, it uses an electron microscope. The bureau normally charges $20 to $40 to its members to authenticate coins, tokens and obsolete paper money, depending upon the value. Those who are not ANA members are charged a few dollars more, Silliman said. But during the three daysof the ANA’s show,Silliman offered his expertise for free to visitors. As with all hobbies it does not hurt to be cautious, Silliman said. “Collectors can avoida lotof trouble just by doing a little studying on their own. We always tell people there is a rule to coin collecting. Buy the bookbefore buying the coin.” Young audience members at Saturday’s Kids First! Film Festival at the University of Utah say violence in movies doesn’t have to be portrayed to make an impact. Though the festival featured popular films like “Chicken Run” and “Lady and the Tramp,” oneof the most talked about mov- ies shown at the two-day event was “World in Our Walls,” a short film by students at Salt Lake City’s Hillside Intermediate School that focused on a classroom filled with students for whom Englishis a second guage. The film, in which recent Utah immigrants tell aboutlife in their homelands, didn’t depict scenes of war,butit definitely left an impression on the young audience members. “They had terrible things happen to them, bombs dropping all around, walking over dead people just to get a drink,” says Ellis Colvin, who attended thefestival. “It makes me appreciate where live and everything I have.” ‘Thefestival was intended to be more than just your average lineupofcartoons,said NaomiSilverstone, who organized the Salt Lake event on behalf of the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Santa Fe, N.M. =. “We wanted to show thatfilms can spat” creativity and be empowering for childrey” as well as entertain,” Silverstone said. “The ultimategoal is to have thefestivals. run by the kids themselves, one day,” = id. The festival was rounded out by an ao tivity room with magicians,jugglers and a buffet of kid-friendly food items such 38, macaroniand cheese and hot dogs. For those whowere really inspired, there were claymation kits containing molding clay, pipe cleaners andother materials used~ to create action figures such as those fea- tured in the film “Chicken Run.” “It takes a lotof time anda little i nation,” said teen filmmakerRichard C. sey, whose claymationfilm “Born into Fan- tasy” was shown. Andnotall ofthe attendees were kids. > “Wehavea lotofthese films on videotape butit’s a whole new experience seeing them, 4 on a big screen and in a theater setting,” said Janice Backer, who attended with her, three daughters. “Oneof the things wehope to learn here ‘ is how to whisper.” Rev. Moon Preaches for Social Reform @ Continued from B-1 Federation for World Peace and Unification USA,praised the LDS Church for supporting “family values.” “We stand together against di- vorce and the breakdown of the family,” Jenkins said. “All worldreligions began with great suffering,” he said, comparing Moon’s imprisonment by North Korean communists to the persecution of LDS founder. Joseph Smith, who was “a Stephen Covey pitched his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families and the Goodman Family, a Mormonsinging group, provided several musical numbers. Utah state Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper,said he had attended a leadership meeting in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Unification Church. “It was like [LDS] General Conference for politicians,” said Stephensen in his introduction of Moon.“It inspired us.” Stephensen said that although Moonis not a member of the LDS Church, he is “a true latter-day He then quoted the LDS Church’s 13th article of faith, which says that members seek “anything virtuous, lovely, or . . . praiseworthy” and said that Moon wantsthe same things. A short video outlined the de- UNITEDHEALTHCARE MEMBERS tails of Moon’s life from “hearing the call from God” on a Korean. mountaintopat age 16 to his work ARE WELCOME HERE. in the United States duringthelast two decades to presiding over mass wedding ceremonies in New York City’s Madison Square Garden. As the video ended, Moon strolled confidently to the podium and began speaking rapidly in Korean. “Utah is well-knownas the homeof the Mormons,”said the energetic 81-year old. “But how many of you believe in God? Do you want to meet God?” Moonthen launched into a 50minute discussionof the Garden of Eden, occasionally breaking into If you are a UnitedHealthcare plan member, the medicalprofessionals listed below. We're looking forward to serving you and your family, at five of the community's leading hospitals would like to welcome and providing a level of healthcare that exceeds your expectations. you. Your insurance plan now enables you to Visit us soon at the location nearest you. We choose from all of the Wasatch Front hospitals promise to make you feel extremely welcome. English to give his hoarse transla tor, Peter Kim, a chance to catch up. With animated voice inflections, tongue clicking, scowls and even spitting for emphasis, he posed question after question to the audience, asking for an enthusiastic “yes”or “no.” “Why do women need men? Is it for money? Power? What?” he demanded. “Because we all need human love!” he bellowed. “No matter how famous you may be, you are only halfa humanbeing.” Because of Adam. and Eve's “fall” from God's presence and Jesus's crucifixion, which they believe was not part of God's plan, followers of Mi believe he i ROCKY MOUNTAIN MEDICAL CENTER SALT LAKE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER PIONEER VALLEY HOSPITAL SALT LAKE CITY 2500 South State Street SALT LAKE CITY 1050 East South Temple WEST VALLEY CITY 3460 South Pioneer Parkway General Information: 461-6200 General Information: 350-4111 General Information: 964-3100 “thirdAdam,”senttorestoreGo's DAVIS HOSPITAL AND kingdom on Earth. They view Mi and his wife as the ld's MEDICAL CENTER a “/ALLEY ienpen Yave LAYTON For now,. though, preaching 1600 West Antelope Drive Unification theology is secondary General Information: 825-9561 to Moon's mission to solve the family, moral, youth and racial problems plaguing this nation, Reere 950Wet 900 Sou WEST JORDAN General Information: 561-8888 Salt Lake Regional Medical Center South Towne get melia Davis Hospital andMedical Center Pioneer Valley Hospital 4ordan Valley Hospital Happy 90th Birthday £ es Lowe, your children, and great 9 | ) . * |
